First Date
by Mandy du Barrie
Summary: Sarah wonders why she's all alone on a Friday night when strange things begin to happen. How did that picture get on her ceiling, and since when are crystals a dating service! J/S One-shot.


**Hello! I hope you enjoy my first attempt at a one-shot! I tried not to make it overly sappy or anything, but, being a girl, I think it's in my DNA to be at least a little romanticised.**

**Read/Review! :D**

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Life had been easy for Sarah in the years following her time in the labyrinth. She used the lessons she'd learned to establish a friendship with Karen, her father's wife, and to be a better daughter. Toby had the best big sister in the world as far as anyone was concerned. Ever since she'd gotten her license, she'd driven him to school every day and picked him up from school every afternoon.

School, too, was easy. None of her classes challenged her, save Algebra 2, in which she had a B- average. Not that this troubled her; Sarah wanted to be an English teacher. Math wouldn't help her teach Shakespeare.

Friendships came and went each year, changing with schedules and social circles. Being far more mature than the rest, she felt out of place, and socializing was a challenge. Sarah was detached from her fellow girls, whose primary concerns were with clothes, manicures, and, most of all, boyfriends. Sarah, herself, had been on a few dates, but had found them to be boring.

There was only one man on Sarah's mind these days, and he certainly was not one of the losers in her class. Quite the contrary, he was a tall, muscular man with gorgeous hair and piercing blue eyes. She had met him when she was fifteen and ever since he'd been her basis for comparison. This, of course, meant that the guys she knew paled in comparison.

Her friends all teased her about her lack of a love life, but Sarah merely shrugged, saying that she hadn't found 'the one' yet. She inwardly acknowledged this statement as a lie, but knew that no one would believe her even if she told the truth.

Sarah was eighteen now, and would soon be graduating from high school. College seemed like a million miles away, even though it would begin in the fall of the same year, and she often wondered how she would ever be able to pay for it. Having no means of acquiring a scholarship, she knew that student loans would be looming on the horizon.

..o.O.o..

One night, Sarah sat alone in her room. It was a Friday, and her father had taken Karen out on one of their weekly dates, leaving her home alone with Toby, who had, mercifully, fallen asleep two hours ago, after a raucous birthday party at a fast food restaurant. Sarah wondered to herself just how many times he'd managed to navigate the play area, with its numerous turns and ceiling high slides.

She was drawing a picture, one of her favorite pastimes since conquering the labyrinth. It was a lovely sketch on some lavender dyed paper of the castle in the center of the labyrinth. The detail in which she rendered its likeness was extraordinary, and when it was completed it would join the other hundred drawings on her wall. These drawings were of various subjects, ranging from fairies to Goblins, and there were even some of Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ludo, her friends from the strange Underground.

They still came to visit every now and again, but in the last couple of years their visits had become few and far between. Now that her future loomed ahead, it was nearly impossible to dwell upon the mystical land she had come to love. College prep classes, maintaining good grades, and writing a thousand applications had absorbed much of her time.

She was lonely, and admitted it to herself. Why wasn't she on a date tonight? Surely there was _some _guy worth going to the movies with, or going out to eat with. Sarah couldn't think of a single one, but she just knew that there had to be someone out there for her to spend time with. The Goblin King would probably never wish to see her again after she'd rejected him, so why couldn't she just move on and find someone new?

Frustrated, she fell down onto her bed. Her drawings covered the walls and part of the ceiling, but she didn't remember placing one _over_ her bed. In fact, the only drawings on the ceiling were on the other side of the room. Surely it was a joke, played by Toby or even Karen, but how would they know about _him_? Karen never went into her room, under any circumstance sans laundry day, and Toby would never be able to reach.

There, directly above her, was a sketch she'd done of the Goblin King, Jareth. This one was a rarity, because Sarah hardly ever colored her pictures, but there he was, fully colored in minute detail. She was puzzled, but decided not to take it down. Who ever had put it there had obviously meant for it stay, because it was pinned in place at ever corner. _With glass pins._

Sarah was rapidly realizing what had happened. _Oh my God. He's back._

She leapt to her feet, glancing around the room. He had been in her room, or still was. If he was still there then…She had no idea what she would do. Wait, wasn't this exactly what she'd wanted? She'd missed him like crazy, but…What would she way? What would _he_ say?

Lost to the world in her musings, a glimmer of light brought her back to earth. A crystal, perfect and otherworldly, sat on her desk. _So he is spying on me after all_, she thought, picking up the sphere to inspect it more closely. It was as light as a bubble, and the colors spinning around inside of it were dizzying. How did it work, exactly? Maybe it was like a walkie-talkie. She giggled at the thought. "Um, hello?" she began, feeling a little odd speaking to an inanimate object.

"Hello, my pet," a velvet voice replied. Sarah spun abruptly to see, in the corner of her room, the Goblin King himself. He was wearing his customarily, and sinfully, tight breeches, and a shirt cut down revealing his lean, muscular chest. He was standing there in a shimmer of glitter, arms crossed. The poor girl's eyes grew as round as saucers. "You seem surprised to see me, Sarah."

"I am," she said, already on the defense. "I didn't know it this thing would work," she added, holding the crystal out to him to take.

"Keep it. That way you can get _my_ attention, and I won't have to sneak into your room."

_In her room. _"Oh, the picture." She smiled, looking up at it. "I think I would've noticed it taped to my mirror or something."

"You're a young girl; I thought it only fitting." He flashed his naughtiest grin. She blushed violently. His eyes scanned her face, taking in the fact that he's embarrassed her. He chuckled.

"What do you want?" she asked, looking confused.

"I could ask you the same thing. Why did you summon me?" Did he still care for her, or was it because Sarah wanted him to that she heard a bit of passion in his voice? And the way he was looking at her…simply maddening.

"I…" What could she say? _I was lonely?_ No, that would make it seem as though he had been a last resort. _I missed you?_ Definitely not; he would torment her for rejecting him, or, worse, he would tell her that he _hadn't _missed her in return. It would make sense, she supposed. She had done him wrong. "I don't know."

"I do," he said, walking towards her. Sarah's breath caught in her throat. "You were wanting some company on a Friday night."

"Oh? And are you to be my company?" She found it hard to form the words when he was so close to her face. His breath was warm against her cheek.

"Only if you wish for me to be." How tempting. It had been three years since she'd seen him, and here he was, as real as anything, asking her on a date.

"Yes." She couldn't believe that she'd agreed. Wasn't he the Goblin King, the antagonist in her story? Maybe he wasn't.

_I'm exhausted from living up to your expectations of me._

Maybe, because she'd expected him to be the big, bad wolf, he'd become one for her sake? Sarah wasn't sure.

"And where do you want to go, Precious?" He was alarmingly close now, his lips brushing her ear when he spoke. Sarah's knees almost gave out. It was all she could do to keep from collapsing into his arms. She remained resolute, however. The last thing she needed was to be spirited away to the labyrinth again, especially not knowing what his intentions were.

"I thought we could, you know, stay in. Maybe make some dinner and watch a movie."

She had not been prepared for the look of shock that graced his usually reserved face. "Stay in?" he stammered, a confused smile forming. He pulled back, leaving Sarah feeling slightly bereft. "As you wish, Precious, though you might find accompanying me to my kingdom more…_pleasurable _than sitting in your living room." She decided not to contemplate the various meanings of 'pleasurable', and instead crossed the room to her door.

"No, I think I'd rather stay in. Are you coming?" she asked, holding the door open for him. He snickered. "That is to say, are you going to follow me down?" Jareth held his mouth with a gloved hand, laugh lines forming beneath his mis-matched eyes. "Shut up," she scoffed, making her way down the stairs.

"You have a lovely home, Sarah. I only got to see your parents' bedroom the last time I was here." It was strange, seeing someone so regal as Jareth in a quaint, 1980's style home.

"Thanks." Sarah went into the kitchen through the door beneath the stairs and pulled a pot from one of the cabinets.

"What are you doing?" he asked incredulously, taking a seat at the table. Jareth's eyes scanned the tacky placemats and table decorations.

"I'm making pasta. You can help me if you want." She was pouring water into the pot, and took a box of pasta from the pantry, emptying its contents into the water.

"Why the devil would you _make_ anything? I could conjure up a seven course meal if you wanted me to."

"No, I want to cook something."

"Then let me help you, my sweet." She watched as Jareth got to his feet, noticing that he removed his gloves and placed them on the counter. He walked over to the stove and took a spoon from the hanging rack. Sarah gasped a little when he leaned into her to stir the pasta. She felt a hand touch her waist, the pressure on her hip sending shivers up her spine.

When the pasta was done, Sarah drained off the water and poured it into two bowls, and got two forks from a drawer. Jareth smiled at her. This was the Sarah that he knew and loved; the one who was stubborn and wanted to do everything all by herself.

"What would you like to drink?" Jareth tried to avert his eyes when she bent to peer into the refrigerator, but his eyes betrayed him.

"Do you have any champagne?"

"Um, no." She giggled. The sound of her laughter thrilled him.

"Wine?"

"No."

_Time?_ No. He wasn't that crude. "What do you have?"

"Do you like soda?"

"I've never tried it." Jareth wasn't sure that he wanted to consume Aboveground food, but made a good show of it.

"Pepsi it is." Sarah took a couple of glasses from the cabinet, and as she reached to get it she felt his eyes go up and down her body. She then got some ice from the freezer and put them in the glasses, thinking for a moment that she might need them before long. Her skin was on fire.

..o.O.o..

Jareth and Sarah were seated on the couch, watching _The Princess Bride_. She was resting her head against his shoulder. She'd seen it a thousand times, but the romance was a favorite of hers. Jareth, who didn't make it a habit to stay in the Aboveground for more than a few minutes at a time, had never seen a movie before, but thoroughly enjoyed being close to Sarah.

"Though I must say that I don't care much for the soda, this pasta is delicious," he said, taking a bite.

"I'm glad you like it." The girl curled her arm around his, pulling herself closer. Jareth thought he was going to die of joy.

..o.O.o..

The movie was nearly over, and ended with Buttercup and Wesley's kiss. Sarah and Jareth weren't really watching it now, they were too busy enjoying the darkness of the living room.

No, they hadn't kissed yet, but her touch on his arm sent his nerve endings into ecstatic tremors. He wanted so badly to take her away from such a mundane situation. They could be dancing to some love song in the ballroom, or exploring the gardens, or…

More than that, he wanted to kiss her. The thought of her being so close was driving him mad. After three years, his feelings hadn't waned. The vhs played kicked off, leaving them in complete darkness.

"Thanks for the date," Sarah said, her breath tickling Jareth's ear, planting a subtle kiss on his cheek. He inhaled sharply.

"You're more than welcome." His hand found its way to her face, where it rested, cuddling her cheek. In the dim light he could see that she was smiling.

Just as his lips were about to meet hers, the front door clicked. Sarah turned to watch as her father and Karen walked in. Turning to tell Jareth, she realized that he was gone. _And he didn't even stay long enough to wash dishes._

"Sarah, are you home?" she heard her father ask.

"Yes, I'm home. Toby's asleep."

Karen flipped the light switch. "What are you doing sitting in the dark?"

"I was watching a movie." Sarah got up and took the empty bowls to the kitchen to wash them.

..o.O.o..

As she stared into the soapy water's depth, Sarah felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist, pulling her into a very well built frame. She gasped, dropping a dish into the sink that hit with a bang. Jareth's strong arms turned her around and pulled her into an embrace. The suds on Sarah's arms went flying, sending little bubbles into the air.

Without warning, he pressed her against the sink, pinning her there with his body. Sarah clung madly to him, her fingers running through his hair. In a frenzy, they kissed, clutching to each other's clothes as if for dear life.

"Sarah?" Karen called, heading towards the kitchen. "What's all that noise?"

"Nothing!" she called, not wanting to release the Goblin King from her hold just yet. "You'd better go," she finally conceded, hardly believing that she had suggested such a thing.

"You're right, Precious." With one last, soft kiss he backed away. "Same time next week?"

"Yes. Next week it's your turn to decide where we go."

"Can I call you?"

"I'd like that very much."

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Ohhh...Cliff hanger, huh? Well, check out my other stories for more intersting romances and angsty awesomeness! Read/Review please!


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